Latest news with #onlinepurchase
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Warning after 45 deaths from mystery substance bought online - and at least 40 more have purchased it
A senior coroner has issued a warning following the deaths of 45 people who bought a poisonous substance online. Timothy Brennand said a further 40 people were known to have purchased the chemical 'with a view to having the means to use this method to end their life in circumstances' - and warned online forums were promoting its use. In a series of Prevention of Future Deaths reports concerning a 'cluster' of eight deaths in his region, the Manchester West coroner did not identify the poison except to say it is a food preservative which can be used in meat curing. But he also warned it was also a 'reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor'. The deaths Mr Brennand investigated included that of Kelly Walsh, a 45-year-old businesswoman who was the girlfriend of ex-footballer Andy Woodward, the first victim to waive his anonymity to publicly accuse the late paedophile football coach Barry Bennell of child sexual abuse. Bolton Coroner' Court heard Ms Walsh died after taking a poisonous substance bought online at her home in Atherton, Greater Manchester, in February 2021. The other deaths investigated by the coroner were of Matthew O'Reilly, 18, who died at his student accommodation in Salford in September 2020, Samuel Dickinson, 33, Matthew Price, 37, from Bolton, Chantelle Williams, who died in May 2020 in Salford, Shaun Bass, 23, from Bolton, Andrew Brown, 45, from Wigan and William Armstrong, 24, from Horwich, Bolton. Mr Armstrong died at a local hotel after sourcing the unnamed chemical online from a Russian vendor. The coroner said that reporting restrictions had previously been imposed on the cases due to an 'ongoing criminal investigation in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America'. Mr Brennand said a police investigation into one UK-based business found it had supplied 247 customers around the UK and Europe in a 12-month period. Police established that 45 purchasers in the UK and Europe 'were confirmed as only 15 purchases were confirmed to have taken place for legitimate purposes (meat curing etc.)' In all 247 transactions, the coroner said: 'The vendors of the (poison) were not aware of this potential misuse of the substance. 'The small quantities being purchased had been incorrectly evaluated to be an increase in individuals pursuing recreational home-curing/food preservations as a hobby, being an artefact of 'lockdown' living following the COVID national pandemic emergency. 'Vendors were unaware that their website/details were being distributed as part of internet information platforms designed to aid, abet, assist or promote suicide methods. In his reports to Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, and local police, ambulance and mental health officials in the North West, the coroner warned that current Home Office guidance does not 'reference (the poison) as a specific example of concern and focuses on the phenomenon of 'malicious' misuse and not deliberate misuse in the sense of suicide/self-harm.' He said the purchase of small quantities of the poison 'is being presumed to be connected to the many legitimate uses of the than in fact, being evaluated as a member of the public seeking purchase of modest quantities used as their chosen means by which to end life.' The inquest into Ms Kelly's death heard she purchased an unnamed poisonous substance after seeking out advice on an online forum which described itself as a 'safe space'. Mr Brennand warned about the prevalence of such websites that 'promoted information as to how to access' prepare and use poisons that could bring about death. Ms Walsh was found to have ordered the poison 'from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania'. Her actions were 'deliberate and intentional' and she had a declining mental health. The coroner said Mr O'Reilly died from a 'deliberate act of recent self-ingestion'. Mr Dickenson died in March 2020 in Wigan having left a suicide note. An opened sachet bag was found next to him. The coroner redacted the name of the substance it contained, but said it had been sourced the previous month from an online firm licenced to sell such controlled poisons. Mr Bass died in February 2020 having sourced a poison in similar fashion. He had suffered from depression and anxiety. The coroner said tests found that Mr Price had consumed a 'significant and fatally toxic quantity' of the unnamed substance, having sent an email to family members which 'contained unequivocal expressions of the deceased's intention.' Mr Brown, who had a history of mental health conditions, was found dead in August 2023 in circumstances that puzzled investigators as his motive still remains 'unclear'. The coroner said the most likely scenario that led to his death was a 'fleeting, ill-considered, irrational self-harming ideation'. Mr Armstrong, 24, had shown symptoms of a psychotic illness and ingested poison after checking into a hotel. He called 999 to report what happened but it took 89 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, by which time he was dead. Chantelle Williams, who had a 'complex medical history', first ingested a 'significant but non-fatal' dose of the substance in 2019 and checked into Salford Royal Hospital where she received care. Twice she managed to order the poison while still on the Keats Ward at the hospital and ingest the poison, with the second incident killing her in May 2020. The Home Office is required to respond within 56 days of the coroner's report.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Athens resident who wanted to purchase tractor online faces possibility of losing $23,000
A former Athens resident who wanted to purchase a tractor online now faces the possibility of losing $23,000 as he deals with banking institutions over a problem that occurred when he attempted to cancel the purchase. The 46-year-old man, who said he recently moved to Commerce, filed a fraud complaint with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department on May 2. The report shows the man, who at the time lived in Athens, had on April 1 located a 2022 Kubota tractor offered for sale by a man in Orlando, Florida. Before agreeing to the sale the victim reported he carefully searched and found the man's business on the Florida Division of Corporations. The suspect sent him a bill of sale on April 3, but the victim waited until April 7 to initiate the wire transfer of the money, which he conducted at his personal bank in Athens. The Florida man told him the tractor should arrive at his home on April 11, according to the report. But on that day, another bank handling the transaction for the Florida man reached out to the victim's bank to 'share suspicions and concerns about the recipient of the $23,000.' Upon hearing this, the victim reported he immediately wanted to cancel the transaction and the Florida man's bank gave him seven days to cancel the transaction while they held the funds, the report shows. On the same day, the victim completed the documents and sent it to the bank, but when the victim went to his personal bank on April 18, he discovered his money was not in his account. He made inquiries, but the other bank didn't respond until April 29 and then only to notify him that the money had already been released to the Florida seller. In an interview Wednesday, the man, who asked his name not be used, said the two banks are no longer communicating with each other. 'I have filed a Better Business Bureau complaint,' he said. As far as the suspect, he said he had checked the background on the Florida man, who recently had his LLC (limited liability company) renewed. However, he has been unable to reach the tractor seller through e-mail and numerous telephone calls. The man is disappointed in the bank's behavior as he said he completed all the information they requested to have the transaction stopped. This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Man hoping banks in Athens can recoup his $23,000 in tractor scam
